A petition filed Monday by Florida environmental groups requests that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service include certain manatees for endangered species status.

The request is being made specifically for the West Indian manatee, the Florida manatee and the Antillean manatee. These manatees are local to the Florida area and are suffering from starvation due to pollution.

The Florida population of manatees has rapidly decreased in the past five years and has worsened in the last year.

"In 2017 until 2019, the Florida manatee's observed population decreased by an average of 6.94% annually. A subsequent unusual mortality event on the Atlantic coast has driven greater population decline, and more than 1,100 Florida manatees died in 2021 alone, representing over 13% of the subspecies' estimated population," the petition explained.

Manatees were listed as endangered from 1973 to 2017 and were later removed from endangered status. The petition insists the removal was a mistake.

"The Fish and Wildlife Service now has the opportunity to correct its mistake and protect these desperately imperiled animals," said Ragan Whitlock, attorney for the Florida-based Center for Biological Diversity.

Fertilizer runoff, leaking septic tanks, wastewater discharges and other forms of pollution have impacted manatees' food intake.

"Seagrasses on which manatees depend are increasingly being destroyed. Warm-water refugia where manatees overwinter are threatened. Coastal development also threatens manatee habitat," the petition reads.